Background: Sittler became the first of two de-frocked captains to be dealt. There was irreparable damage in his relationship with owner Harold Ballard, and he used his remaining clout to force a trade.

Result: Bad optics, as the highest scorer in club history ended up a journeyman with the Detroit Red Wings.

Strong and Costello only played a handful of games; Ihnacak had a club record 66 rookie points and played 427 games.

Background: Despite three 50-goal seasons, Vaive had been wracked by seven years of Leaf turmoil. Wendel Clark had replaced him as No. 1 in the fans' hearts, and coach John Brophy craved Secord's toughness.

Result: A bad deal for the Leafs. Secord was too near the end and Olczyk was unsuited for a losing franchise. Vaive and the others were effective with Chicago and other clubs, but he missed life in Toronto.

Background: The Cliff Fletcher/Pat Burns era was ending in disarray with two non-playoff years.

Result: The Devils only made it to the conference semi-final in 1997. Gilmour stayed there another full season and had 75 total points, but became an NHL nomad, ending an injury-shortened cameo with the Leafs in 2003.

Toronto made good use of all three newcomers, but Smith and Sullivan slipped away for no return and had huge impacts elsewhere, while McCauley was part of the ill-fated Owen Nolan trade to San Jose.